The program has been in the works for some time, though execs tabled the concept at one point because it felt “too daunting,” per Pearson. “But we came back to it and doubled down—we don’t like to take no for an answer.”
Liquid Death is not alone in upping the ante on sweepstakes. In its ambitious Super Bowl 2024 ad, DoorDash announced a contest that gave away an item from every ad that aired during the Big Game.
The eventual winner, a San Antonio, Texas resident identified as Jonathan H., figured out the complicated promo code revealed in the spot from Wieden+Kennedy. He won a Booking.com vacation worth $20,000, a BMW electric vehicle, a $50,000 down payment on a house and a 30 pound bucket of mayonnaise, among other merch. Tally on the total package was about $500,000, per DoorDash.
Jabbing the competition
Marketing mavens like Deb Gabor see the Liquid Death program as “100% on-strategy, on-audience and on-brand” for a company that “consistently continues to titillate customers with exciting and provocative creative and messaging.”
The brash canned water startup with a billion-dollar valuation routinely jabs at other companies, from energy drinks and sugary sodas to water in single-use plastic containers, as it hypes itself as a healthy alternative and sustainable choice. It’s known for its over-the-top marketing and swag, which includes skateboards infused with Tony Hawk’s blood, a Travis Barker enema kit, a “Corpse Paint” collaboration with e.l.f. Cosmetics and an upcoming animated series based on its Murder Man mascot.
Gabor, founder and CEO of Sol Marketing, pointed to the brand recently closing a $67 million funding round targeted at expanding its distribution. Timing of the stunt is “likely designed to bring broader based awareness and consideration of the brand, possibly with hope of expanding the footprint and paying off that $67 million investment.”
While the inspiration for the current giveaway happened in the ‘90s, at the height of the so-called “cola wars” between Coca-Cola and Pepsi, the story continues to be fodder for business schools and media coverage.
The Pepsi Stuff loyalty promo was designed to give away t-shirts, hats, sunglasses, leather jackets and, as implied in a Super Bowl ad from BBDO, a Harrier jet. A community college student named John Leonard, citing a loophole, collaborated with investor Todd Hoffman and tried to buy the jet outright for about $700,000.
